Poultry-feeding device.



O. KEPHART.

POULTRY FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, I912.

IIIIIIIIIS UNTTED %TATF% PATENT @FFTQE.

ONIDA KEPHART, OF OSCEOLA MILLS, PENNSYLVANIA.

POULTRY-FEEDING DEVICE.

Application filed June 5, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ONIDA Knrrmn'r, citizen of the United States,residing at Osceola Mills, in the county of Clearfield and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPoultry-Feeding Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in poultry feeding devices, and theespecial object of my improvements is to provide an automaticallyoperable, and hence labor saving, appliance which will deliver certainkinds of feed directly from a hopper to the fowls, and which willscatter other feed upon the ground about the appliance where it may bepicked up by the fowls.

One object of my invention is to provide a feeding device in which thequantity of feed scattered will be proportioned to the number of fowlsresorting to the appliance, and to some extent be limited according totheir degree of activity superinduced by hunger.

A further object of my invent-ion is to provide means whereby the largerfowls will be the means of scattering feed for the chicks.

Other objects of general utility are attained by my invention as will beapparent to those skilled in the art. As the shape and particularconstruction and arrangement of the parts which go to make up my poultryfeeding device may vary in many details without affecting its generalprinciples or functions, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myclaims for a patent to the design or exact arrangement herewithindicated, but as merely showing an operative embodiment of theessential elements of my invention.

In the accompanying drawing :-Figure 1 is a front elevation of anappliance embodying my invention, in which portions are broken away toshow features which would not otherwise appear; Fig. 2 is a verticaltransverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged planview of a ratchet disk which forms a part of the power applyingmechanism of my invention, and Fig. 4C is a fragmentary detail in rearelevation of the feed-scattering elements of my in vention. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section taken on the line 55, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a similarsection taken on the line 6-6 Fig. 1.

Specification of Letters ?atent.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Serial No. 701,717.

Referring to the details of the drawing, 5 represents the two sidemembers, 6 the back member, 7 the bottom, and 8 the hinged cover of thelower or base portion of my poultry feeding appliance. Extendingtransversely of the base between the two sides 5 and from the bottom 7to the cover 8, is an lnclined partition 9 which divides the base intotwo compartments, a hopper 7 at the front side of the partition and abin 8 at the rear side. These compartments communicate with each otherthrough an opening 9 at the bottom of the portion, and except for avertical board 7 the front of the hopper 7 is open to access by fowlslarge enough to reach over said board. The cover 1S hinged to a fixedtop-board 8 The sides of the base extend upwardly as at 5, andforwardly, as at 5 and form the sides of a hopper 10, having a back 10and a hinged cover 10. Within this hopper is an inclined bottom 10 whichterminates a short distance from a second inclined bottom section 10,the latter inclined opposltely to the former, and the two forming achute through which grain placed in the hopper 10 may escape.

Passing through the bin top 8 and the hopper bottom 10 and suitablyjournaled in a collar 11 fixed to the under side of said top, is avertical rotatable shaft 11, the lower portion of which projects intothe bin 8 and is supplied with cross-arms 11 and the upper p1'O]60l)Sinto thehopper 10 and has cross-arms 11 The shaft 11 has mounted thereonat a point just above the top 8", a .grain distributor consisting ofadisk 16 having extending thereacross a vertical division board 16"which is cut away at its center to accommodate a flat helically coiledspring 17, one end of which is attached to the board 16 and the otherend to the shaft 11. Fixed on the shaft 11 above the distributor 16, isa ratchet-wheel 12, the teeth 12 of which are upon the upper surface andconcentric with the shaft. Wings l2 extend from the periphery of saidratchet wheel at equi-distant points, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, andthe spokes 12 of the wheel are slightly raised.

The ratchet wheel is directly operated by a pawl lever 15, one end ofwhich is hooked to engage the teeth and turn the wheel when the pawl ismoved in one direction and to ride over the face of the teeth when movedin the opposite direction. The opposite end of this pawl is pivotallyconnected with the upper end of a bar 14, the lower end of which isrigidly secured to the top of a slotted or barred gate 13 which is hungto swing horizontally from brackets 13 which extend upwardly andoutwardly fro-m the sides 5 of the bin. The bars of the gate are spacedapart to permit fowls to insert their heads through the openingsprovided thereby and thus get access to the contents of the hopper 7. Inso doing, it will be obvious that the gate will be pushed inwardlytoward the bin and this will cause a corresponding outward movement ofthe pawl lever, which in turn will partially rotate the ratchet wheeland the shaft to which said wheel is secured. As the shaft 11 is turned,the spring 17 is tightened or wound up and the distributing orscattering device 16 is subjected to the tension of said spring inasmuchas the corresponding turning of said device is checked or prevented by aspring arm 20 which is secured at one end to the back 10 of the hopper,until the tension of the coil-spring is sufficient to overcome theresistance of the spring 20, whereupon the board 16 which has beenengaged by the free end of the latter is suddenly released, thusallowing the spring to unwind or loosenand thereby impart a quickrotating movement which -will scatter any grain that will have droppedupon the disk 16 from the hopper 10.

To facilitate the movement of the grain in the hopper 10, I provide thecross-arms 1.1 on the shaft 11, and also a rack-shaft 21 which isournaled in one side of the hopper and in a suitable opening in thebottom board 10 said shaft having a crank 21 which extends down into thepath of the spokes 12 and is moved thereby as the ratchet wheel rotates.

To prevent the backward rotation of the ratchet wheel 12, I pivot a pawl18 on the Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, 1

back of the hopper so that its point engages the vertical faces of theteeth 12*.

In the use of my improved poultry feeder, I prefer to place grain in thehopper 10, and grit and dry mash feed in the bin 8 As soon as the fowlsattempt to reach the feed in the bin, they will operate the gate in themanner described, and through the various instrumentalities connectedwith, and set in motion by said gate, the grain in the hopper 10 will bescattered around the device and among the litter and chaff on the flooror ground on which the appliance is placed. The bottom board 19 will becut away to allow the grain to be freely scattered in the mannerdescribed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim, is 2-- 1. A feedingdevice comprising a bin and a hopper arranged above the bin, agitatingmeans arranged in said bin and hopper, a slotted gate hinged to swing infront of the bin and adapted to permit fowls'to get access to thecontents of said bin, and reciprocating and rotatable means operable bythe swinging of the gate acting upon said agitating means whereby thecontents of the hopper will be fed and scattered from said hopper.

agitating means arranged in said hopper Washington, D. G.

